Letter to the Editor
The Age
24/07/2012
Using the uplift in private land values to fund infrastructure projects (Doncaster railway line ‘could be built for $840m) is one of the recommendations of the Ken Henry review of taxes that was immediately abandoned by the federal government. Such a reform would threaten the windfall profits of too many powerful vested interests.
The proposed funding model actually has the potential to completely fund infrastructure projects. While British taxpayers paid three and a half billion pounds sterling to build London’s Jubilee Line (tube) extension, a study found that the value of nearby properties skyrocketed over thirteen billion pounds.
The many losers and few winners of the present system of financing infrastructure is a great way to run a casino, but not a civil society.
Karl Williams, Tecoma
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